Lindners, AFG give $11M for business college building

The University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business received the largest gift in its 110-year history from the family of the late Carl H. Lindner Jr., the college’s namesake, and Cincinnati-based holding company American Financial Group.

The $11 million gift will help erect a 225,000-square-foot building, which is expected to be completed by fall 2019. The new Lindner College of Business facility is expected to cost about $120 million.

The Lindner family – including Edyth Lindner, wife of the late Carl H. Lindner Jr.; Carl III and Martha Lindner; S. Craig and Frances Lindner; and Keith and Courtney Lindner – contributed $6 million. AFG made the largest donation in its history, giving $5 million to the building project.

The Lindners hope the gift will inspire others to donate to the college while honoring the legacy of Carl H. Lindner Jr.

The late Carl Lindner Jr. (center) in an undated photo with sons S. Craig Lindner and Carl Lindner III

“My family gives this gift out of love for our father, Carl H. Lindner Jr., the trajectory of the University of Cincinnati, and our longstanding relationship with UC.” said Carl H. Lindner III, co-CEO of AFG.

“With this incredibly generous gift, the Lindner family and AFG have issued a rallying cry for UC’s other partners to invest in the new building project for the Lindner College of Business,” said UC Foundation president Rodney Grabowski.

Early designs feature a four-story building with glass facades, a grand atrium and lobby, open workspaces, a courtyard, a large cafe, lecture spaces, a teaching lab and more.

“The Lindner family has made an unparalleled impact on the University of Cincinnati,” said UC interim president Beverly J. Davenport. “From Carl H. Lindner Jr.’s visionary support of the Lindner College of Business to the family’s founding of the Lindner Center of HOPE to their game-changing contributions to Bearcats athletics, UC is truly grateful for our prized partnership with the Lindner family.”

Fundraising for the building has been underway since August 2015, and more than $20 million has been raised. The current building is nearly three decades old and unable to accommodate the college’s rapid growth. More than one third of business classes are taught outside Lindner Hall.